100 Words: Andrea Bargnani

Throughout the NBA playoffs, where we Raptor fans are left to wallow, Raptors Republic brings you the 100 Words Series. Calling on RR writers and other Raptor scribes from around the internet and MSM, we’ll provide the Republic with 100-word takes on players, coaches, management and announcers. Look for these two or three times a week, continuing today with Andrea Bargnani. The mission I charged the contributors with was simple: you have 100 words (prose, poetry, song, whatever) to discuss said player.

Adam Francis, Raptors HQ
There’s not much left to say here with Bargs. This is a player who should never have been extended at his current price, who should have been dealt at least two years ago, and who now, instead of serving as a potentially intriguing “upside” player to teams in trades, looms as the club’s biggest neck-anvil.

What’s left now is an “addition by subtraction” scenario and even then, who knows if we see it come to fruition if Bryan Colangelo is still in charge.

Part of getting the Raptors back on the right path absolutely means resolving the Bargnani situation this off-season.

But considering I can’t recall another top pick in any sport being held onto for as long as he has, with hopes that his upside eventually shines through, I’m not holding my breath.

Andrew Thompson, Raptors Republic
The Andrea Bargnani experience has felt like being in one long fail video. But it hasn’t been without it’s high points, treasured memories and occasional moments when, if you completely ignored the larger sample size, really squinted your eyes and believed hard enough, it seemed like it just might maybe be something special. So let’s give the man his proper tribute with a couple of those special highlights, as I remember them.

Blake Murphy, Raptors RepublicI googled “how many curse words are there,” thinking I could just post 100 of them for my 100 words. Google doesn’t seem to know, so I’m left with actually writing. In an alternate universe, things have gone differently for Bargnani – he’s developed what was a promising shooting stroke, found a more competitive edge, grown to embrace the leadership role instead of wilting from it. And in that universe, the Raptors are better, but probably still not all that great. I think he’ll be gone, but if he remains he’ll remain in his current form – a low-efficiency scorer who hasn’t learned the Italian translations for help defense terms.

Eric Koreen, The National Post
When Bryan Colangelo made his ill-advised (but meaningless!) decision to announce he was looking to trade Andrea Bargnani, I heard it immediately: When Bargnani comes back in a different uniform, he will slay the Raptors. It was vintage Raptors fatalism. Anything that could go wrong will. To that I state, “Who cares?” Sure, the Raptors will not be able to get anything of value for him, given his contract. But he’s been failing in Toronto for too long now. The future might involve Bargnani hurting the Raptors, but the recent past has given us the same.

Tim W., Raptors Republic
He’s gotten more chances to be a star than Ryan Reynolds, but with him you can understand the reasoning behind it. I can’t tell you how many people took my criticism of him over the years personally, and I don’t understand why. If you’re going to align yourself with a player, should it really be a soft, underachieving big man who doesn’t play defense and is one of the worst rebounding seven-footers of all time? I mean, you’d think Bryan Colangelo would have better things to do than insult me. Hopefully he’ll have lots of time starting this summer.

Zarar Siddiqi, Raptors Republic
Invoking the amnesty alone doesn’t buy much in terms of flexibility, and his trade value is nil and declining. As much as we want to turn a new leaf, the stark reality is that a Bargnani resurgence is the only way the current roster improves significantly. On the other hand, it’s madness to give him another chance to let you down. Final Verdict: There’s no option but to keep him here in a limited role and hope he finds his three. He’s like the modern day Jim McIlvaine. Another scenario: Colangelo gets fired, hired somewhere else, and trades for Bargnani.

He should have gone after his rookie contract was up, after his GOD-AWFUL 2nd year. I’ve been a Bargnani-game hater since the end of that year and obviously have not strayed from that viewpoint.

http://twitter.com/AlexHPLai Alex Lai

Anyone noticed they stopped playing his primo commercials on tV?

raptorspoo

Too many fickle Raptors fans in my opinion.

Too many fans with unrealistic expectation that drove this hype. It’s like the same people who are calling for his head are the same people that were going all crazy about him when he had a good stretch just over a year ago. Was it BC’s fault or was it all the fans fault for buying into his garbage? A bit of both, me thinks.

The sentiment that Bargs has got to go seems unanimous but i’m going to beg to differ. Teams will only dump their garbage on us to take Bargs. What are we going to spend the money on if we amnesty him? Another player to help us squeak into the playoffs? Is Bargs absolute garbage or is he just a garbage star?

Where we are at now, I say we hold onto him and maybe even resign him. YES RESIGN HIM…. to a contract of about 3 mil per year for 4 years to come off the bench. He’s still a 7 foot player who can shoot at times, when his confidence isn’t shattered. But y’all probably boo him out of town. There goes making something out of nothing.

theswirsky

Expectations were set by Colangelo, not by fans. Colangelo decided to pick him #1, to fire coaches for him, to shift players into different positions to fit him, to pay him his unneccesary salary, to hire a coach for him, and to build around him. At every turn Colangelo’s actions said to fans ‘this guy will be a star’. Fans had nothing to do with creating the hype. What they did do is foolishly buy into it.

Amigo

If every move was around Bargnani, why we got J O’Neal to play with alongside C Bosh ? BC never built around Bargnani. He built around C Bosh and didn’t work. When C Bosh left, BC decided not to go ham and rebuild instead on the young gunz. Bargnani has been used as a tool to cover the fact the franchise never spent money to really push the team to the next level.
Bargnani contract has never been as per ‘franchise player’ and AB never pretended to be one. C Bosh payed as one as Rudy Gay (even more) is now.
To see a real star in TO you need to get lucky on draft night or overpay and go into tax mode. How funny is it that so called ‘scrubs’ in TO are playing big time in PO (Jack,Bayless,Belinelli).Stop bashing and whining about players, this franchise has never got to a second round even before Bargnani.

theswirsky

You’d perhaps make a great argument had I said ‘every move was around Bargnani’, which I did not.
The Raps did make it to the 2nd round before Bargnani (under Grunwald)
I’d also mention that I didn’t once ‘bash’ Bargnani in my post, but as history showed us the Bargnani boys see anything thats not pro-Bargnani as anti-Bargnani. (what part of Italy are you or your relatives from by the way?)

Thanks for coming out though, I appreciate the nostalgia of flawed logic, strawmen arguments and completely false defenses and statements. Those were the days…

Statement

“Thanks for coming out though, I appreciate the nostalgia of flawed logic, strawmen arguments and completely false defenses and statements. Those were the days…”

Lol…I wonder what Cesco is up to these days

cesco

The truth is that after Bosh left , there was no one else but Andrea and Jose that could have been considered NBA players and they were the two receiving the most criticism from the fans . Why is that ?? , their flaws were well known but that is all most fans concentrated on and trading those two would resolve all the team problems .

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

Well, first of all, I’ve always been one of Calderon’s biggest backers. I felt his game has always been underappreciated by most Raptor fans, partially, because he doesn’t play an entertaining, aggressive style.

Otherwise, you’re rewriting history, a little. First of all, there are only five Raptors who have played in all three seasons since Bosh left. Bargnani, Calderon, DeRozan, Davis and Amir. Both Davis and DeRozan were young enough, and had shown enough promise, that criticizing them too much would have been pointless. Raptor fans gave Bargnani a few years.

And Amir Johnson has been possibly the best Raptor the last three years, so saying Bargnani and Calderon were the only one’s that could have been considered NBA players doesn’t make sense.

Quite frankly, Bargnani deserved the criticism he got, whether you like it or not. Not because he was a #1 pick or because the team was being built around him, or even because the team had very little talent. He was criticized because he didn’t seem to care about anything other than scoring, and he almost never did that very efficiently. And I can’t stand when people excuse his lack of defense and rebounding on his coaches. I knew defense and rebounding were important to win in my late teens with very little coaching. If Bargnani hadn’t figured that out by the time he hit the NBA, that’s on him.

And the whole “trading Bargnani would have solved all the team’s problems” response is basically making up an argument that doesn’t exist. I don’t recall ANYONE saying that Bargnani (and Calderon) was the only problem the Raptors had. Trading him would have definitely been a step in the right direction, but it was pretty obvious there were more problems with the team.

cesco

Curious that in the best basketball league in the world you can become an all-star ( Nash , Stoudemire ) without being a good defender . The point is that their superior offense made the coaches/fans FORGET about their poor defense when it came time to vote for the all-stars. Andrea defense ( except one-on-one defense) was the one thing the Raps fans could concentrate on ( he was the cancer , the rotten apple spoiling the rest of the barrel , remember the thousand of comments made along those lines ? ) .

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

Still defending him. Wow. Yes, Nash and Stoudemire were All Stars while being below average defenders. You’re right. Nash, of course, was one of the best passers in the game and made everyone around him better. Plus, he’s not a big man, which DOES make a difference.

Amare is a below average defender, you’re right. And that’s why a team won’t win a title with him as a main player. One of Phoenix’s biggest achilles heals was Stoudemire’s defense and it’s one of the main reasons they never made it to the FInals. Stoudemire was also a MUCH more efficient scorer. Like light years better. And when he was an All Star, he actually rebounded the ball. Plus, he was always working hard.

Bargnani only has only one above average skill and it’s an overrated one. He can score, yes, but he’s a volume shooter who scores inefficiently.

I notice you didn’t mention Monta Ellis, another incredibly inefficient scorer who has never made an All Star team. At least he passes the ball and works hard.

Bargnani doesn’t work hard. Period. It’s only one reason he’s never taken advantage of the physical gifts.

Why should Raptor fans wilfully ignore all his weaknesses (he’s got several MAJOR ones) in order to focus on something that the team can get from a lot of other places, but without all the headaches?

You backed the wrong horse.

You accuse people of focusing on his weaknesses instead of his strengths, but he has far more weaknesses than strengths. And those weaknesses are an absolute killer if you want to, you know, actually win.

But you seem to ignore that, just as you accuse us of ignoring his strengths, which, quite frankly, are easily replaceable (inefficient scoring). It’s simply astounding to me that you continue to defend him. People stopped defending Benoit Benjamin long before this point. And at least he could play defense.

DumbassKicker

I wouldn’t presume to speak for cesco, but my own view isn’t about defending AB, but rather somewhat a rebellion against the incessant shouting of the same stuff for the 666th time.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

You know, of course, this was a 100 Words article about Bargnani, right? What kind of things do you think people would write? And people seemed to come out of the woodwork to defend him, for some reason.

DumbassKicker

You know, of course, cesco wasn’t responding to the 100 Words article, but what others posted beyond that, for their 666th time, including the direct shouting out for him to show his face. hmmmm, now that I look at that, I’m not sure that is actually “cesco”, but the troll who poses as multiple people on here, including my old moniker, and that the post from “Statement” was in fact the poser setting up for his pseudo cesco to appear.

Statement

“and that the post from “Statement” was in fact the poser setting up for his pseudo cesco to appear.”
No that was me. I used to get into it a little bit with cesco back in the day about Bargs.

Amigo

You didn’t answer my friend my question:

“If every move was around Bargnani, why we got J O’Neal to play with alongside C Bosh ? ”

Answer:

AMIGO

“WHY WE GOT J O’NEAL TO PLAY WITH ALONGSIDE C BOSH ? ”

Answer : ?

(to build around him….to shift players into different positions to fit him… to hire a coach for him)

DumbassKicker

First you layed on the typical “to shift players into different positions to fit him, to pay him his
unneccesary salary………………..At every turn Colangelo’s actions said to fans ‘this guy will be a
star’. Fans had nothing to do with creating the hype.”

Then, with hypocritical nose high in the air, “I appreciate the nostalgia of flawed logic, strawmen arguments and completely false defenses and statements.”

1. Who got shifted to different positions to accommodate AB? What I remember is that AB was drafted, and without an ounce of experience playing the 5, he was shifted to an attempt to make him a 5 and fit around Bosh. For AB’s first 4 of 7 years, everything that was done was to attempt to build around, and accommodate Bosh, including a desperate attempt to plug an actual 5 into the line-up (J.O.), relegating AB to the 3rd big, along with a lame attempt to make him a 3.

The Hedo move similarly was totally centred on trying to satisfy building around Bosh. The clearly identified weaknesses of the Raps was Centre, and Wing (especially the SF spot). Hedo was obtained for the SF spot, with AB pushed back to the ill-fitting starting Centre spot. Who was being forced to fit into a different position, and who was being painted as the star to build around?

Flawed logic, false statements, straw men???? hmmm

2. The “pay him his unneccesary (unnecessary) salary” declaration: I’m not sure what qualified basis there is for using the sly “unnecessary” choice of words, but:

a) $50M for 5 years is far from exorbitant for 7 footers in the NBA, and is hardly the level of salary that hypes “this is our future centrepiece/star to build around” to fans. Fans who thought otherwise bought into their own hype,,,,,,,, or the future straw man argument of those playing the anonymous internet version of the easiest task in the world of professional sport: the critic.

b) That wasn’t a bad contract at the time, considering he had just come off his 3rd year, in which he was shifted from starting 5 (to fit with Bosh), to 3rd big when J.O. arrived, with attempts to play him at the 3, then back to starting 5, while finishing the year averaging 15.4 pts, on 45% FG%, 41% 3P%, and increased rebounding and shot blocking.

Note to those that can’t quite grasp what I’m saying: This is not some “defense” of the weaknesses of AB. It’s an attempt to dislodge a few misrepresentations of history that seemed to have gotten imbedded into common anti-bargs sentiment at RR. In other words, everybody is entitled to their opinions as they relate to reality, but inventing shit to support opinions isn’t cool.

cesco

Very well said , another misrepresentation is saying that ‘coaches were fired for him’ . Teams are now fighting over each other to hire Smitch as head coach .

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

How in demand Sam Mitchell right now is isn’t germane to the discussion. The fact is that he was fired, in part, because he was too hard on Bargnani. This isn’t a controversial statement, here. There were obviously other reasons for the firing, but Bargnani was definitely a factor. And the fact is the record after he was fired was worse.

Guest

EXACTLY. Given the guy doesnt rebound and doesnt do well on help defense, why expect him to rebound and why put him in a situation where he will constantly have to help defend? He already had a reputation of being an above average rebounder and defender even before he was drafted, why try to turn him into something he’s not? I’m pretty sure Colangelo drafted him knowing all this, and drafted him purely for his shooting and scoring coz if he didnt, then he’s a fool. Given that he’s lazy and doesnt want to put forth effort on anything else besides scoring, why keep him, and at that even give him a big contract? This is all on Colangelo.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

Let me just say that I never had unrealistic expectations for Bargnani, never judged him for where he was drafted, and you can be sure I never saw his “good” stretches as anything but fool’s gold (and quite frankly, I didn’t think he played as well as most did).

The problem I’ve always had with him, from even before he was drafted, was that he was a big man who was a poor rebounder and defender, and I simply don’t think you can win with a player like that playing a prominent role. And I think keeping him would be a huge mistake. Do you really want a guy on the team who needs to be constantly motivated, protected from criticism because he’s so sensitive, doesn’t perform well off the bench, and because he only has one strength, can only be a role player? How on earth can you argue for keeping him?

raptorspoo

1. What are our options? Trade him (good luck)? Amnesty him? So we can add another inconsequencial role player?
Personally I think the whole team is flawed and we should start rebuilding by trading away anything with value save Jonas. And by value, I don’t mean Bargs cause he has none.

2. Why would I resign him? I should rephrase that to signing him under the right situation. Raps management created the Bargs we know today. They treated him like a princess.
If he’s coming off the bench and you have starters with the right attitude and a coach that will kick him in the arse ala Sam Mitchell then he could be our JR Smith. Even JR had motivational issues before this season. And although Bargs is a terrible rebounder, he’s not as bad on the defensive end (against other bigs) as raps fans want to believe.
The BC/DC combo are a bunch of pushovers so if we do keep those two might as well cut Bargs lose cause this self-destructive pattern will continue.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

1. I totally agree that the whole team is flawed and should be blown up. You’ve got no argument there. I think if you can trade Bargnani for a couple of smaller contracts and players who can be even semi-useful, then you do it. It doesn’t matter whether or not you get cap relief, in fact it’s better if you don’t because it will make him easier to trade. If you can’t trade him, then amnesty him. It doesn’t matter that you’ll just get an inconsequential role player. You need to purge the team of any unhealthy elements. Show the fans that that era is over and done with. Show the players that there is such thing as accountability in the Raptors organization.

2. Bargnani simply isn’t worth keeping him around. J.R. Smith is a bad example, first of all because I wouldn’t want him on my team. Motivation wasn’t the issue with him, but simply lack of maturity, which is still the case. He’s a horrible defender and I don’t think he’s worth the headaches he causes.

And by the way, Bargnani’s defense is poor. He’s a decent on-ball post defender, but below average against faceup big men, has bad instincts when his man doesn’t have the ball and he’s a horrible team defender. Again not worth what he gives back.

NyAlesund

Bargs is sub par defender but like many NBA players can improve in a right system. Toronto is not the right environment for him for many reasons.

It is ridiculous to think that Bargs can’t be traded. The simply reality is that Colangelo didin’t want to trade him. He demanded Gasol……………!!!!!!!!
If he really had wanted to trade him believe me he would have found the way to send him even on the moon.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

Saying that Bargnani is a subpar defender is like saying that Aaron Gray is a subpar three point shooter. And after 7 years, Bargnani will never be a even an average defender. You seem to imply that the “right system” will make ANYONE into a good defender, when that’s simply not true. Bargnani has poor defensive instincts, and you can’t teach instincts.

As for him being traded, I don’t doubt that Colangelo has and will demand too much for him because he vastly overvalues him and always has.

I’m constantly amazed that Bargnani STILL has defenders. I don’t understand why.

An interesting stat. There are only 6 players in the history of the NBA that have averaged at least 30 minutes per game, over the course of their first 7 seasons, and who have played at least 10,000 minutes total, that have a LOWER total Win Share than Bargnani.http://bkref.com/tiny/NKT1l

While that stat alone proves nothing, it does tell you how few players have been given the opportunities that Bargnani has with so little cause. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen a player be given so many excuses, not just by the organization, but by his fans. Nothing seems to be his fault. He’s a poor defender because he wasn’t in the right system, not because he’s simply got bad defensive instincts and doesn’t care about playing it well. He doesn’t play hard because he wasn’t pushed by the right coach, not because he’s simply a guy who is like that (like so many before him). I remember people saying that the only reason Bargnani didn’t rebound better was because he played beside Bosh, who took all his rebounds (??). No matter that he’s NEVER rebounded well, no matter who he played with.

Another excuse for Bargnani is that he was playing out of position, and that he’d play better at the PF position (an excuse that didn’t make sense upon study).

Every time one excuse had to be thrown out, it was replaced by another one.

He really only has one above average skill, and that’s his ability to shoot, but he scores so inefficiently, that you don’t want him taking a lot of shots. So, what exactly is the reason some people are so attached to him?

NyAlesund

Bargs has lot 7 years in Toronto.

Instead of talking about his stats (really awful) we have to see him in another organization. When this will happen we can see him whether sit on the bench for 40 minutes or playing like an All Star, or probably like a good player.

You said “I’m constantly amazed that Bargnani STILL has defenders. I don’t understand why”.

The answer is simply: I want him to have another chance. That is. After that, If he failed I could say that he is one of the biggest bust in NBA history, like Olowokandi……………

Everyone deserves another chance.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

Bargnani is definitely not one of the biggest busts in NBA history. Not even close. Seven years is an entire career in the NBA, and even if he never plays one more second in the NBA, he’ll still have made more than $60 million, started more than 300 games, scored more than 6500 points, still have played the fourth most games in Raptors history, scored the third most points, and, shockingly enough, grabbed the third most rebounds.

There are players who work a lot harder than Bargnani does. I would rather see them succeed more. If Bargnani was a hard worker, and just couldn’t put things together, I could see your point. But Bargnani’s failings are entirely his own. And I don’t feel bad for him in the least.

NyAlesund

“If Bargnani was a hard worker…..” that sentence is not the truth. Believe me. People who know him well say that he works hard everyday. Also when he plays with the italian team is another person. Now he is working with Cuzzolin, the italian national team trainer trying to be ready for the european competition.

By now this guy is so despised that even people like you are talking about him like a lazy guy. C’mon.

Let him to leave this team and we will see who he really is.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

First of all, I really have no personal feelings about the guy at all. I thought drafting him was a bad idea and I’ve never felt he had the potential that many did, but that was simply a judgement of his game.

You’ll notice I didn’t call him lazy. I simply said that he doesn’t work as hard as a lot of other players, which it true. You chose to paraphrase incorrectly. Please don’t do that.

I liken Bargnani to Rudy Gay. Both have the potential to be much better than they are, and both go through bouts of inconsistency. Both tend to coast on their skills. I don’t think either one is lazy, per say, but neither is an incredibly hard worker. You can just watch them on the floor, to see that.

As for seeing who he really is, why do you think that we haven’t seen that already? He’s certainly not going to be given the same chances he did in Toronto. This is where reality doesn’t seem to jibe with your argument. There has been absolutely no indication Bargnani is anything other than what we’ve seen over the last 7 years. But for some reason, with absolutely no evidence to the contrary, seem to believe that there’s this other Bargnani that is just waiting to get out.

For as long as you’ve watched the NBA, have you ever seen a player get as many chances as Bargnani?

NyAlesund

Many chance in Toronto, one of the worst team in the NBA in the last 4 years. Team full of borderline players (until Gay’s acquisition) unable to have a decent NBA career and when there were a couple good players they didn’t stay enough time to prove their values. BC was talking about rebuilding process………….yeah for sure……

Do you really think that Bargs can’t play better than he played in the last seven years? When did he play really well last year was the swan song?

It appears to me, that he is fed up about Toronto, about Colangelo, about playing in a losing team, about even the breathe the Toronto’s air………………….and also fed up about the chain of injuries he got in the last two years.

I don’t see the future, I am not able to foresee Bargs’ career but I am sure he has to leave the team. After that we will can see who he really is. Good or bad.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

I’m sorry, but this is just more excuses. Bargnani didn’t play well because he didn’t have enough talent around him? That’s the excuse, now? The thing is, both Amir and Calderon were better players than he was, over the last 3 years, and they were very productive. It’s just an endless parade of excuses of why Bargnani never became anything close to the player some expected him to be. Hopefully Bargnani never had that attitude, because it would explain a lot.

And, no, I don’t think Bargnani will play better than he has over the last 7 years. Why on earth would I? That defies logic. As for when he played “really well last year”, lots of players go through short stretches. The one I bring up to Raptor fans is Jerryd Bayless’s month of April, a couple of years ago, when he averaged 22.5 ppg and 5.6 rpg. An NBA career isn’t about putting together a good 13 games. It’s about playing consistently over the course of an 82 game season, no matter what the circumstances.

And the whole, being sick of being on a losing team, excuse also doesn’t fly because it’s not as if he wasn’t partly responsible for that. Besides, both DeRozan, Amir and Calderon played on those same losing teams, but never let that stop them from working hard.

If you want to continue to find places to lay blame about why Bargnani never became the player you seemed to envision, you’re obviously more than welcome to, but all you’re doing is ignoring the only place blame should be laid, and that’s squarely on Bargnani. The truth is that countless players have excelled under far worse circumstances and with far less talent than Bargnani has.

NyAlesund

We have different opinions. The only thing we can do is see waht will happen to him.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

Yes, we have different opinions. I think 7 seasons, playing more than 30 mpg and getting lots of shots is a good enough sample size.

NyAlesund

C’mon man. You are seeing Bargs like shit. You do not know what will happen in the future and the past now doesn’t count. Do you know why? Because Toronto are not Bobacts, are not Kings, are not other 27 NBA teams. Let see Bargs far from Toronto for one season and after that we can discuss if whether he is a NBA player or not.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

The past doesn’t count? Really? Because you don’t like how he performed? So does that mean the past doesn’t count for ANY player, or just Bargnani?

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

You just left this comment about Gay…

“….sure. In fact with Gay they’ve never won a single PO series. I remember 4-3 against the Clips………….without him conference semifinal and conference final. Probably a coincidence………….”

…suggesting that the past should count for Gay. But not Bargnani?

NyAlesund

I meant that Gay wasn’t really a factor in Memphis. But now he is a Raptors’ player and I am wainting to see him earning his money.

So, the past is the past for every player…………..

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

Unfortunately, the past is also the best (and really only) way to predict the future for every player. You can’t wipe the slate clean for a player just because it’s convenient. I remember people always using this argument for Bargnani. It’s based on emotion, not logic.

NyAlesund

It’s over!!!!! Bargs will be traded within the second week of july. He is history.

Now we have to start to hate another player after Carter, Bosh and Bargs. Who will be the next? I think Gay…………………..

Brook Brook

I’m curious to see folks tally up just how many “chances” he’s had? I keep hearing that, and it is compelling, but I wonder if anyone is really willing to pin a number on it. (I don’t mean it as a disagreement, I’m genuinely curious as to how many he’s had, and at what point it was too many?)

Drafted is certainly one chance. coaching change (Triano) makes sense, Re-signed is certainly another. Arrival of DC is one, too. If we are calling it 4, that is a lot, but there are lots of players with more than that.

Zach Randolf has had 4 teams, 6 coaches (although one was temporary) and was written off as a punk with an attitude problem by lots of people. Bargs won’t be Randolph, though.

Lots of players have had numerous chances. For every Zach Randolph, there is a Jermaine Oneal that never matched his success with his first team, but got lots of chances. Bargs’ time has run out in Toronto for sure, but he’ll likely be better (as a reserve) on another team and I think he has a decent chance of making a good contribution to other NBA teams for another 5 years. Hyperbolically suggesting he’s a locker-room cancer or not worthy of being an NBA player (not that Tim W. said those things, but lots of other have) or that he will be a star on another team if only they have enough hugs for him is silly. Going to a seasoned coach in a good program will help make him a better player than he was in TO (though still not an all star),going to the bobcats will likely make him even worse.

TO love to hate, and that’s why we pay our ticket/cable money, I guess.

DumbassKicker

“I’m constantly amazed that Bargnani STILL” takes up so much of your time, shouting the same stuff that you have for dozens, if not hundreds, of times. I won’t speculate what it accomplishes for you, but there seems something unhealthy about it.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

How does he take up so much time. Before this article, I had barely discussed him in months. And I’m not shouting. I’m writing. And I’m actually quite calm while I’m doing it.

DumbassKicker

The “shouting” reference is not meant literally, but figuratively, as in after it’s been said 666 times, even a whisper starts to sound like yelling,,, as in fn enough already!

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

I do feel bad for you. Obviously you are being forced to read all these comments against your will. That’s the only explanation.

DumbassKicker

Well, there ya go. Mutual admiration societies are too common and boring, but between you and I, we have the beginnings of a mutual “feel bad for you” society.

knowledgep

100% agree with theswirsky… good post

robertparrish00

This is pure speculation, but what do you think the Raptors are doing now?

I picture Demar and RG in LA practicing.
I picture Amir, JV, Etc in a gym getting stronger, preparing for next season.
Then I picture Bargs and he is sitting on a beach at a resort working on his tan.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

I wouldn’t paint Gay is a real hard worker. If he was, then he probably would have improved even a little over the last 6 years. DeRozan, Amir and Valanciunas? Definitely.

Not that I’m comparing the two at all, but you could write an article just like that about Bargnani. I don’t think Gay is lazy. As far as I know, he’s never come to camp out of shape, like a lot of players. But there’s a difference between someone who works out in the off season to the way some guys train. Gay obviously trains enough to stay in good shape and keep his skills sharp. But Gay is and always has been an underachiever, when you look at what he’s done with his potential. You know a guy like Valanciunas is going to tap every ounce of potential he has because he trains constantly.

SR

What would you do in the summer if you were a millionaire Italian with a supermodel wife? Seriously?

robertparrish00

I would bang my wife and hit the gym.

Sam Holako

I didn’t get a chance to send my thoughts along for Bargnani, but everything I’ve wanted to say has been covered. I will offer this:

The first time my wife watched a Raptor game with me, also the last time, was a few seasons ago when the Primo adds started; we both laughed at it, then it cut back to the game. As Andrea was running down the court in his lackadaisical manner, my wife said: “is that the limp noodle guy from the commercial?”

Limp noodle…such a fitting moniker.

Ion66

At this point, I don’t see anything (other than less of a log-jam at the PF) the Bargs gives us, that we didn’t/don’t get from a player like Alan Anderson. Streaky shooting will have you cheering one night, and jeering the next. Why do we need to let AA go, but need to resign Bargs?

I remember once when he pump-faked Shaq on the perimeter then drove to the basket and dunked. That was awesome. All the other times he was on the court? A little less awesome.

Statement

Lol.
I remember when he was posting Lebron and gave him a nice up-and-under and scored, thus making Lebron look foolish.
I also remember him running the fast break against Milwaukee this year and bouncing the ball so hard that it bounced over his head and lost control and blew the layup.
Good times.

SR

Hahaha – by the way, the first suggested search for “Andrea Bargnani” on YouTube is “Andrea Bargnani booed.” The first suggested search on Google is “Andrea Bargnani trade.” There it is in a nutshell.

ppellico

this whole thing just makes me feel bad.
Bad for him and the team.
When I first started watching the raps…I had such good feelings and high hopes the kid. And even well into this year I sstill was hoping it would come together.
and if he is here next year…I will root for his success

Let me ask you a question. Do you think that Andrea Bargnani is one of the best interior defenders in the entire league and that Anderson Varejao is one of the worst? Because if not, then there are obviously factors that are not being taken into consideration.

Kovalainen

Let’s not forget that he played at center position most of his career, it’s hard to defend stronger guys, he was quite good on-man defender this year (when not injured). At the moment, we won’t get anything better for him, so I still want the Raptors to keep him at least until the trade deadline comes…

NyAlesund

Happy to see a lot of haters around Bargs.I would be happy if I saw a lot of them on BC.

The architect of this mess is him.

People in Toronto spent a lot of energy bashing Bargs when the poor management was the key of this failure.

Bargs is a good player nothing more than this, with recognizable faults and stenghts, but he was always put on dispaly to conceal the truth. The truth is the Coalngelo ‘s stubborness to kept him over the years that hurt the team and the palyer a lot. In fact he was booed worst than Bosh or Carter.

Now, with this kind of the roster, not good enough to have a good future, we are forced to trade him without understand for who.

I am sure that the key will be the European competition in september that could give Bargs the opportunity to show his talent and push some teams to make an offert. Until then Bargs won’t be traded.

In the meantime we added a scrub player like Gay that cost 80% more than Bargs, famous to be a good scorer (with 40% on the floor and poor defense) whilst his former teammates won 56 games and they have the chance to win the series against the Thunder.

pran

A good player? In what world.

NyAlesund

In real world far far away Toronto.

Do you remember Belinelli and Bayless? Traded like a piece of shit, not good enough for Toronto and magically they’re playing excellent PO games despite they are not all stars.

We will see the same thing with Bargs, whilst in the meantime we will enjoy mister 37 mln…………………….doing nothing good to deserve that money. He is going to take same money than James, Durant……..!!!!!!! Good move Colangelo………………

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

So you think Bargnani is a good player, but think Gay, who is basically a little more consistent, better rebounding, better defensive and shorter version of Bargnani is a scrub?

NyAlesund

Gay is a scrub. You said little more, better and better than Bargs that cost us 18 mln!!!!!!!!

Yes, I consider Gay a scrub simply because is not the right player for this organization. He shot with 40% on the floor, he is not a defender and Colangelo has an idiotic idea to think to extend his contract. Not mention he is a ball hog.

Bargs is a good player but now nobody recognize this because we can’t stand him. We can’t even pronunce his name.

He has to be traded, that’s for sure, but please don’t praise Gay as a great player or something like that.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

If you think I’m praising Gay or think trading for him was a good idea, I suggest you read a few of my articles on this site. But I’d rather have Gay than Bargnani, quite frankly, because Gay does do everything a little better than Bargnani and at least isn’t a detriment most of the time he’s on the floor. With Gay, his biggest problem is his contract. With Bargnani, it’s his actual game.

NyAlesund

I didn’t read your previous articles, I only answered at this one. Bargnani is one of the problem, we know this, but Gay is not the fixer, that cost us a lot.

pran

lazy mouth breather with a terrible work ethic. Anything else I say would be too mean.

Adriiian

Has there even been a player boo-ed at home like Bargnani in the NBA? OR in recent history?

Man, I have sympathy for this guy.

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

I would have sympathy if I didn’t remember the guy will be making $23 million over the next two years, and has only himself to blame for the fact that he hasn’t come close to fulfilling the potential that Colangelo saw in him when he drafted him. If Amir had Bargnani’s offensive skills, he’d be a perpetual All Star.

DumbassKicker

And if we could put players together like a Mr Potato Head, every team would have MJ/LeBron/Hakeem ish players.

Slick

For the first couple years I thought Bargs had allot of potential and would be able to turn into a decent player. However, every season he has regressed and he never took the opportunity he had seriously. I don’t blame Colangelo for taking a gamble on a guy who drew comparisons to Dirk Norwitzki, especially since Toronto has a tough time attracting relevant players. All in all a failed experiment, no grudges held. I think Eric hit it on the head though, when Bargs comes back in a different uniform, and the Toronto fans boo him as per usual, and he buries us, I’m going to say to myself “Maybe its the cynical fans with unreasonable expectations which is really killing us.”

http://www.wearingfilm.com/picketfence/ Tim W.

The problem is that Bargnani should never have been compared to Dirk. And if Colangelo did think he was the next Dirk, then he’s definitely to blame for thinking that, because he wasn’t. To me, it was a bad pick right from the beginning.

And I don’t think Raptor fans have unreasonable expectations in the least. I think Raptor fans, in general, need to not only expect more, but demand more.

Slick

Ya your probably right that he should never of been compared to Dirk, obviously they are two very different players. As for the fans, they are very passionate, however it seems like that cut throat passion tends to bite us in the ass sometimes! Oh well, when everything is in place it will make for one hell of a home court advantage. Keep up the good work!